Misplaced Complaints

Logo complaint.

2009-08-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

I was reading this article about new and old logos for companies (It was on yahoo, you might've seen it) and I was reading how the company that designed the new Pepsi logo were describing. They likened it to the Mona Lisa and the Parthenon.

The word that grabbed me beyond that was that they called the new logo "Breathtaking". Seriously. The company that made it wrote a 27 page justification for the change literally entitled "BREATHTAKING Design Strategy".

I don't know about you, but the only breathtaking qualities my soda should have is me choking on it.

The heat.

2009-07-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

I hate it. It is insufferable, and damn-near inescapable. With cold you can always bundle up, or move, or find someone to cuddle up with. It's an easily fixable issue.

Not so with heat.

If you don't have air-conditioning the heat will follow you everywhere. There's no escaping the heat. If you move, you only get hotter. Removing your clothing helps only marginally. It's an oppressive state-of-things, this heat. Hellish.

Things That Take a Lot of Time and Effort to Obtain

2009-07-26T01:08:00.000-07:00

But are worth it. Damn those things.

Unfortunately, just about everything truly worth having is on that list.

Waking up early at the behest of others.

2009-07-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

All week I've been waking up at seven in the morning after going to sleep at about... four or five in the morning to take Justin to work. It's painful to walk into the sunlight (an already painful experience) when you're bleary eyed and zombie-like. Then, hours later, I tend to fall asleep and sleep in WAY too late. Fucks up all my shit.

Lack of communication.

2009-07-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

I hate people who have a communicative link and don't maintain/use them. This includes:
-Cell phones that are never on/left at home all the time.
-Email addresses they never check.
-Networking site accounts that they never check (Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

How the hell are you to trust that information will reach someone in a timely and pertinent fashion if the person doesn't check the communicative locale they've instructed you to reach them at?

So annoying.

Hypocrites.

2009-06-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the story:

So, my mom, my dad, my grandpa and I get back from a trip to the Rose Festival (which included my uncle and his wife). When we get here (at about nine o'clock at night) my mom wants my laptop so she can put pictures on it. It has no battery power, so I plug it into the wall in my room, but she makes me move it and the plug to the living room for her to use. I deliver it to her, as requested, and promptly go to sleep.

Next day. I open the laptop (which is laying haphazardly next to the basement door in my room) and there's a big ugly fucking strip of green discoloration about three millimeters wide running down a section of the screen. So I ask my mom about it: after all, it was left in her care, at her specific request the night before. She says I shouldn't have left it lying out, and that no one used it so it's my fault it's broken. I say I didn't use it out there, and that it was her responsibility to watch over it. So Ian (dumb fucking Australian) defends her stance and gives me some dumb fucking shpeel about being an adult, or whatever the fuck.

About a week ago he asked me and Justin to throw a box in a trailer. We threw the box in the trailer, but he doesn't like how we did it, so he lectures us about being adults and doing a job right, and about how he'll call us on our bullshit because we're adults now, and that's how he treats adults.

So now that I want an apology from some adults who broke another adult's laptop, they wanna gang up on me and tell me not to care, and try to blame it on me.

Dumb fucking hypocrites.

Kids.

2009-04-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

My dolt of a sister, Amberly, just came up behind me and looked over my shoulder. She saw my blogger dashboard.

Her comment: "Blogger? That's the stupidest thing I've seen in my life."

There you have it folks; the youth's outlook on free speech and individual writing: Stupidest thing they've laid eyes upon.

Brutes.

Kyle Templeton...

2009-04-01T23:07:00.000-07:00

I have a small complaint, about Kyle Templeton. It's about his blogging. It's not my place to complain, really, since I don't HAVE to read his blog...but I do. And I have a blog to complain on, so I guess it's my prerogative.

It's that damned space thing he does.

After any form of punctuation, he seems to refuse to use the space bar. I'll give you an example sentence.

Hey guys.How's it going?My week is going well,I think.I finished all my homework;I even did my book report.Things are going awesome!I can't think of a single thing going wrong.

Does that bother anyone else? Is it just me?

Regardless... may the gods of grammar or his own desire to better his writing cure him of this ailment. It makes reading his blog mildly annoying.

I hate...

2009-02-26T22:46:00.000-08:00

Avery Tamblyn; Kenny's drinking buddy who 'hates cops, because they're mean to me and my friends.'

Shut the fuck up.

You deserve every bit of ire and ill-will, as well as all the negative attention.
Drunken fool.

Apple Cider.

2009-02-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

I don't...know...what...to do with myself. What the fuck should I be doing? Should I be walking? Writing? Reading? Excercising? Watching a movie? TV? Should I be learning some new skill, socializing, adventuring to see some place I've never seen, meeting people I've never met and growing as a person for it? I haven't a damnable clue. I just don't know if I should be doing this...sitting at a computer, listening to music, drinking cider...moping...over something that can't be fixed, because I'm an attached emotional fuck. Surely that isn't productive? Surely I don't learn a damn thing from this experience, from this afternoon that's like any other?

What SHOULD I be doing?

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T01:57:00.001-08:00

Fuck you Valentine's Day. I can honestly say you do far more damage to people than bring them good feelings.
That is all.

Bullshit.

2009-01-29T18:35:00.001-08:00

I got my report card today. I don't have an English grade, because apparently I have to turn in my Literature book...A literature book I STILL need for L.A. 12... What the fuck?

Also, they say I owe them eight dollars for a book I lost. True, I lost the book:
But I already paid the fine... What the fuck?

Sometimes I wonder about our educational system...I don't do it often, but now is definitely one of those moments.

Musical Video Games

2009-01-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

Singing video games: They are now on my list of complaints. My mom bought some Disney singing game for the Wii, so now, for hours on end, I'm forced to listen to the poor singing skills of: 1) My family, and 2) females. (I'm not a huge fan of female singers...the exception being Montserrat Caballe) I would love to simply go elsewhere, but my room is right next to the living room. Of course, I close my door and put on music to muffle it as best I can, but people go to the bathroom (the entrance to which is in my room) and they leave the door open. It's a terrible cycle.
I suppose if I was more social I'd go hang out with someone to get away from the air-rending screeches and wails that seem to pass for musical ability in my household. Alas, I already took Craig home, and I don't much care for his family anyway. They're subtly mean, very strict, and churchy. Blech. Mike (his step-dad) isn't so bad though; He's a big nerd. D&D, fantasy novels, computers, video games, etc.
Craig can be a strange one, however. I'm not trying to mock him or anything, but the way he says things is very strange. I attribute it to the fact that during some prime social skill development time (middle school years) he was in a hospital bed. Poor guy. But he's a nice kid, and he's not too ugly. I do enjoy it when companions are aesthetically pleasing. Shallow, I know, but come on. I hung out with Grant for six years...give me a break.
On the note of musical video games: Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Fun games. Some people hate them, because they support the "go learn a real instrument, idiots" ideal, but I'm not musical. I'm a video game player. Sure, I enjoy listening to music, and I enjoy playing video games. I consider it a success to put the two together. That said, I'm complaining that there's no Queen on any of these video games. (at the time of writing...and to my knowledge.) I figure though, if I don't see any Queen it's because Queen (Brian May and Roger Taylor, or their agents) simply don't want to let their music be used as such. A bit saddening, but it makes sense, I guess. Still, I'd really love it if they came out with a Queen edition Rock Band, like they release Aerosmith Guitar Hero and AC/DC Rock Band.
If there isn't any, simply because the creators chose not to use any, than I'm pissed. Brian May guitar parts are amazing, and shame on the creators for not considering the works of one of the greatest guitarists ever when creating a guitar video game.
Anyway, I seem to have lost my steam...
Screw you Rock Band and Guitar Hero! May there always be a fist being shaken in your direction until my demands are met!

Girls

2009-01-01T03:47:00.000-08:00

can be stupid. I know that's pretty obvious, but I feel it needs mentioning. My sister, age 12, invited our neighbor, age 14, over to our house to stay the night. So, they stay in the back room (they being my two sisters, dumb neighbor, and dumber cousin, Jade.) while my father and I play World of Warcraft in my room and watch Death Race simultaneously. So this goes on for a while when, at 2:30 A.M., stupid neighbor's boyfriend calls MY house phone, causing a terrible raucous. So I answer, naturally, and talk to some random guy about why he's calling. I divine that he is actually calling for dumb neighbor, and the continue loud, stupid conversation until about 3:45 in the morning, thoroughly ruining my enjoyment of my movie. (Though I must admit, the movie wasn't that good.) Luckily, I had a plan. I colaborated with Amberly, and we put on 'Meet Dave,' and Amberly forced dumb neighbor to hang up on her boyfriend, though that took ten minutes of 'I love you. No I love you more, don't start with me. I need to hang up...well I can stay on the line for the movie, but I won't be answering you. I'll call you RIGHT after the movie if you're still up.' blah blah blah. Makes me sick. Not because I'm so dispassionate that I am against affection, it's just I don't like hearing unnecessary amounts of it at 4 o'clock in the morning in my living room. Then, after she hangs up, she has to attempt to brag about every word of the damned conversation she can cram into the small amount of time she has before the movie starts.
Her mere presence is aggravating. Also a bit depressing, but that's another subject entirely.

It helps.

2008-12-29T00:44:00.000-08:00

Some people don't think complaining get anyone anywhere. I disagree. I think it helps. It may not actually help the situation, but it's a good way to vent, and I think if I'm less agitated I'm in a better state to deal with the situations logically, and in an acceptable manner. Because I couldn't think of a very acute complaint today, that's basically my complaint. I don't like it when people talk down to my brand of complaining. Sure, I understand that complaining has a specific place (like the internet) so I argue only for the sake of healthy complaining. I don't think it should be used to bog things down or get in the way of productiveness, but I think there is such a thing as good complaining. Just to vent frustration or to keep oneself busy, or better yet, to relieve one of one's busy-ness. That's why I'm doing it at least. I should be working on my book, or doing something of that nature (the productive sort) but hey: I'm doing something that makes me feel better, so there's an achievement.
But, while I'm in the neighborhood:
Ian should really fix the bathroom. There's two bathrooms in my house. Well there were two when we moved in. You see, after about a year of use, Ian (my Australian step-father) thought he'd remodel the upstairs bathroom. He tore it all up; got rid of the toilet, the sink, the tub/shower. Everything. Then, he never got around to FIXING it all. It's been six years. The upstairs bathroom is still in ruins, blocked off by a sliding closet door. There are five people in my house who need to use the bathroom every day. Seven if you include baths for the two babies, but they don't need the bathroom as regularly as others.
That single bathroom, a necessity for all five patrons as well as our company (friends and family that are visiting, which is nearly always) is located in MY room. That means every hour of every day I have people coming into my room, and because that's where everybody bathes, guess where the MOST used dirty clothes storage area is? That's right: Just outside of the bathroom, or in other words: My room. Because every one barges in to use the bathroom, they don't mind barging in at all other times of the day. They let babies run wild in there, which is destructive (I've had 7 discs crammed into my PS3, all at once. Had to take the damn thing apart to get them out and fix it.), they've gotten ahold of some of the things I've made in ceramics, they've ruined video games, and even lost one (Star Wars: Force Unleashed. I just got that damn thing a few months ago).
Of course, Amberly (12 year old sister) always needs to play the Sims 2 on my computer, and Ian loves to play WoW on it as well, so that means I get all their dishes: Ian's coffee cups, bags of chips from Amberly, etc. And because those two people are often watching ("watching") the babies, that means those babies get to hang out in, you guessed it: My room.
On the note of babysitting, there's another calamity regarding that position. Our chief day-to-day babysitter (when Mom and Ian are working) is my ex-girlfriend, Kimberly. My some stroke of fate (karma, perhaps?) Kimberly has been hired as our full-time babysitter. So despite the fact that we broke up (which, ideally means I'd never have to see/spend time with her outside of a professional setting, school for instance) I still have to see her every damned day. She always tries to talk to me, and it's terribly awkward. She tries to be all buddy-buddy, too. Today she asked if she could borrow six of my books for her sister. Excuse me if I'm over reacting, but: Get your own fucking books. I let her borrow them before already for herself, and sure enough, at least one has come back with coffee stains. I'm sure it'd be a great idea to lend them to a woman who has two toddlers as well.
Not going to happen.
And a final complaint before I retire at this late hour of 3 o'clock in the morning: Why does Kimberly always feel the necessity to ask me stupid questions about her job? She's been babysitting here for months, yet she always comes tromping up to me to ask things like: Do you know where extra baby-wipes are at?
When have you ever seen me wiping babies? I don't know where the fuck baby wipes are, let alone extra baby wipes. I don't know if my mom said anything about buying paper towels. I don't know when Noah last had a nap. I don't know if Micah is hungry. I don't give a shit. You get payed to do this, you figure it out. If you wanna throw some of that money my way, and stop rubbing things in my face (she got a signed copy of one of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt novels and simply had to put it mere inches from my face so I could recognize that Mr. Salvatore uses the same type of pen as her. Thanks for that.) then maybe I'll try to be of more use.
Forgive me if I'm being unreasonable. But we broke up because she made me angry all the time with her constant snoody attitude, trying to make me feel inferior, or cold, or whatever; so, to preserve my sanity and possibly humanity, I instigated the events that led to the break-up. I really had HOPED that it would mean no more Kimberly; no more attitude, or annoying bull-shit. Huh-uh. Apparently that meant I would get to have lots and lots of extra Kimberly time.

Anyway, I'll drop it. I can realize when I seem bitter, but still. It seems like a valid reason to me. You'd think my mother would be a bit considerate of my feelings regarding the whole thing when choosing a babysitter. You'd be wrong, of course.

But that's a complaint for another time. Or not. Maybe I can just leave it at that and try to be optimistic.

Meh: I'll be optimistic on my other blog.

One more

2008-12-27T00:37:00.000-08:00

Another simple complaint I have is that I couldn't use the template I wanted. Obviously, the coolest template is the classical looking one with the awesome title called 'scribe'. I couldn't use it because Mr. Humphrey's blog has it, and one of the reasons I'm complaining is not just that he has it (who wouldn't want it?) but that I have a weird thing about copying people, and that I've let it get to me. Who gives a damn if I use the same template. There are probably hundreds of people (if not more) using that template because it's the awesome one.

And still, my own logic can't save me from choosing the crappier (but still ok) black template. What's up with me?
In the spirit of being a World of Warcraft nerd:
Tsurani shrugs. Who knows?

Start with something simple

2008-12-27T00:03:00.001-08:00

I have it in my 'about me' section, but I feel it necessary to go into slightly more detail. My prime complaint of late has been this:
Syrup is not readily available hot. I mean to say that syrup is often served cold in restaurants, like I.H.O.P. and the like, and when you actually buy your own syrup, they don't sell it in a microwavable container. I hate that I have to trans locate my syrup from the crappy 'do not microwave' container to this little ceramic dish I'd normally use for dipping oils for bread, and then having to wash that in addition to my plate, fork, cup etc. Sure, it doesn't seem like much, but how hard is it so make a microwavable container? I've bought soup that comes in a microwavable container.
Am I just being stupid? Is there syrup that is already microwavable? Forgive my ignorance if that is so, but I think my complaint is valid.
I know it's not that big of a deal; I just have to go through a little more effort than usual. So why do I complain about it? Human nature perhaps, or maybe I just like to whine. Either way, this is my little corner of the internet, and I'll complain about whatever the hell I want.
And today, it's syrup.
So, if you ever open up some sort of restaurant, and waffles, pancakes, and french toast are on the menu then serve hot syrup and advertise said point, and you will have me as a valuable and loyal customer until I die, move away, or run out of money, in order of least likely to most likely valid reasons I'd stop eating at your establishment.